Passage Two

Two Trends of Cultural Studies

1．The terms post-colonial and postcolonialism first appear in the late 1980s in many scholarly journal articles and as a subtitle in Bill Ashcroft，Gareth Griffiths/and Helen Tiffin's text The Empire Writes Back:Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures(1989)and again in 1990 Adam and Helen Tiffin's Past the Last Post:Theorizing Post-Colonialism and Post-Modernism．By the mid-1990s，the terms had become firmly established in scholarly writing．

2．Like deconstruction^[11]and other postmodern approaches to textual analysis，postcolonialism is a heterogeneous field of study where even its spelling provides several alternatives．Some argue that it should be spelled postcolonialism with no hyphen between post and colonialism，whereas others insist on using the hyphen as in post-colonialism．Many of its adherents suggest there are two branches:those who view postcolonialism as a set of diverse methodologies that possess no unitary quality，as suggested by Homi Bhabha and Arun P．Murkerjee，and those who see postcolonialism as a set of cultural strategies centered in history．Even this latter group however，can be subdivided into two branches: those who believe postcolonialism refers to the period after the colonized societies or countries have become independent and those who regard postcolonialism as referring to all the characteristics of a society or culture from the time of colonization to the present．

3．However postcolonialism is defined，that it concerns itself with diverse and numerous issues becomes evident when we examine the various topics discussed in one of its most prominent texts，Ashcroft，Griffiths，and Tiffin's The Post-Colonial Studies Reader(1995)．Such subjects include universality，difference，nationalism，postmodernism，representation and resistance，ethnicity，feminism，language，education，history，place，and production．As diverse as these topics appear，all of them draw attention to one of postcolonialism's major concerns: highlighting the struggle that occurs when one culture is dominated by another．As postcolonial critics are ever ready to point out，to be colonized is to be removed from history．In its interaction with the conquering culture，the colonized or indigenous culture is forced to go underground or to be obliterated．Only after colonization occurs and the colonized people have had time to think and then to write about their oppression and loss of cultural identity does postcolonial theory come into existence．

4．Although a number of postcolonial theorists and critics such as Frantz Fanon，Homi K．Bhabha，and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak have contributed to postcolonialism's ever-growing body of theory and its practical methodology，the key text in the establishment of postcolonial theory is Edward W．Said's Orientalism^[12](1978)．In this text，Said chastises the literary world for not investigating and taking seriously the study of colonization or imperialism．According to Said，nineteenthcentury Europeans tried to justify their territorial conquests by propagating a manufactured belief called Orientalism—the creation of non-European stereotypes that suggested“Orientals”were indolent，thoughtless，sexually immoral，unreliable，and demented．The European conquerors，Said notes，believed that they were accurately describing the inhabitants of their newly conquered land．What they failed to realize，maintains Said，is that all human knowledge can be viewed only through one's political，cultural，and ideological framework．No theory，either political or literary，can be totally objective．

5．Concerned primarily with feminist theories of literature and criticism and sometimes used synonymously with feminism or feminist theories，Gender Studies broadens traditional feminist criticism to include an investigation not only of femaleness but also maleness．What does it mean，it asks，to be a woman or a man?Like traditional feminist theory，gender studies continues to investigate how women and men view such terms as ethics，definitions of truth，personal identity，and society．Is it possible，gender specialists question，that women view each of these differently than men?

6．Into the multivoiced feminist theories，gender studies adds the evergrowing and ever-diverse voices of black feminists，the ongoing concerns of French feminism，and the impact of poststructural theories on customary feminist issues．Its authors include the almost canonical status of writers such as Adrienne Rich，Bonnie Zimmerman，Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak，and Toril Moi．Striving to develop a philosophical basis of feminist literary theory，gender studies re-examines the canon and questions the traditional definitions of the family，sexuality，and female reproduction．In addition，it continues to articulate and investigate the nature of feminine writing itself．And it joins feminist scholarship with postcolonial discourses，noting that postcolonial literature and feminist writings share many characteristics，the chief being that both are examples of oppressed peoples．

7．As with feminist theory，the goal of gender studies is to analyze and challenge the established canon in literature，art and other areas of knowledge．Women themselves，gender specialists assert，must challenge the hegemony and free themselves from the false assumptions and the long-held prejudices that have prevented them from defining themselves．By involving themselves in cultural theory and its accompanying practices，gender specialists believe women and men alike can redefine who they are，what they want to be，and where they want to go．

Questions for Understanding

1．Why are there two different spellings(postcolonialism and postcolonialism)about the same concept?

2．What are the concerns or the interests of postcolonial theories?

3．In what way(s)does gender studies benefit feminism according to paragraph 6?

4．What is the goal of gender studies?Who do you think might be interested in gender studies?

5．In what way(s)might postcolonialism and gender studies support each other?

【注释】

[1]constraint:抑;mobility:扬(编者译)，是解释文化功能的两个概念。第一段文章(Passage One)提到文化能对人做三件事情。在这三件事情里文化所发挥的作用就可理解为“抑”和“扬”。

[2]The Faerie Queen:《仙后》，长篇史诗。由英国文艺复兴时期的宫廷派诗人埃德蒙·斯宾塞于1596年所作，主要是为英女王伊丽莎白歌功颂德。

[3]“complaint”wives:“不甘做男人附庸的”家庭主妇们。本文是节选，作者已在前面讨论过“complaint”的具体含义。

[4]布莱希特(Bertolt Brecht，1898～1956)德国戏剧家兼诗人，提出“史诗戏剧”理论和“间离效果”的演出方法，强调作品的理性分析和教育作用。

[5]New Criticism:新批评(派)，文学批评流派，20世纪20年代肇端于英国，30年代形成于美国，40～50年代在美国文坛占统治地位。新批评强调对作品本身即文本(text)的研究，反对对作品进行社会—历史研究;区分文学语言和科学语言，只有诗语言(文学)才能表达感情，作品本身是文学活动的来源。

[6]Jacques Derrida，Stanley Fish，J．Hillis Miller，Michel Foucault:雅克·德里达，斯坦利·费斯，希利斯·米勒，米歇尔·福柯。四位为后现代主义/后解构主义学家，文化研究的重要学者。

[7]postmodern:后现代的，指后现代性(postmodernity)或后现代主义(postmodernism)。前者是一种思想:怀疑所谓的“真理、理性、客观真理”等传统概念，反对启蒙主义的行为规范;认为世界是不确定的、偶然的、多样的、不稳定的和非理性的。后者指一种文化:指通过自省的、游戏的、派生的、肤浅的和消解中心的艺术来打破高雅和通俗文化的界限以及冲破艺术和日常生活经验之间的藩篱。

[8]hegemony:霸权，指统治阶级通过知识滥觞和意识形态控制(不使用强制或威胁的办法)使被统治者心甘情愿地接受自己的从属地位。该词发端于安东尼奥·葛兰西(Antonio Gramsci)1971年的著作《狱中日记选》(Selection from the Prison Notebooks)。

[9]subaltern:下属的、从属的。该词因印度裔的美国后殖民主义学者盖亚特莉·斯皮瓦克(Gayatri G．Spivak)的“下属能说话吗?(“Can the Subaltern Speak?”)一文而在文化研究界更加流行。它指的是在一个社会或文化里处于从属地位的人，比如父权社会里的妇女、全球化过程中处于劣势的发展中的民族和国家等。

[10]Antonio Gramsci:安东尼奥·葛兰西(1891～1937)，作家、政治家、意大利马克思主义的奠基人;因反法西斯于1926年在罗马被捕入狱，在狱中写了大量的日记，后被整理出版，成为其霸权理论的重要基础。参见第14页注释②。

[11]deconstruction:解构，又或解构主义(deconstructionism)。解构(主义)源于雅克·德里达1966年在约翰·霍普金斯大学一篇学术论文:“结构、符号及其在人文学科话语中的作用”(Structure，Sign，and Play in the Discourse of Human Sciences)。他认为，结构主义理论(structuralist theory)总是预设意义上的一个中心，这个中心主导着整个结构(structure)而(又通过结构)和其他无数个中心相连。解构主义的实质是质疑西方柏拉图之后的形而上的哲学论断。解构主义的代表作是德里达的《论语法》(Of Grammatology，1967);在德里达的影响下，美国(洲)掀起了“解构”浪潮。加拿大原型(神化)批评理论家诺斯洛普·弗雷(Northrop Frye)，黑格尔式的马克思主义者格奥·卢卡奇(Georg Lukacs)，把解构思想引入到诗歌批评的保罗·德曼(Paul de Man)都不约而同地向“新批评”(见本节Passage One，注释①)发起了挑战，因此形成了所谓“美洲解构主义”(American Deconstruction)。

[12]Orientalism:《东方主义》，由美籍巴勒斯坦人爱德华·赛义德(EdwardSaid［za：ˊi：d］)著。本书主要是通过福柯的话语权力说和葛兰西的霸权理论来解读西方(英法等前殖民主义国家)的历史、文学、法律、哲学等书籍或文献(话语)，指出所谓“东方”只不过是殖民主义和帝国主义通过想象所构建的一个和“西方”这个概念相对立的“他者”形象。